Sugar Rush:Virus
by Talkpillow
Summary: After 20 years of silence, Sugar Rush is once again attacked by an old foe. But this time they have a new hero to defend them. The third story from Sugar Rush: Unplugged and Sugar Rush:Deleted , Rated T just in case!
1. Passing the torch

Looking at the piece of paper was something he had grown accustomed to that day, he could have memorized the words as he scanned his eyes over them for what seemed like the billionth time now. His last wish, the old man from the arcade's will had left him one of his most prized possessions. The arcade itself. As a young man, he had worked at this buzzing arcade alongside the old man for years. Now it was a miracle this place was still open, still just as popular as always and now in his own possession.

The man could hear footsteps down the hallway as his thoughts faded away and he looked up just in time to hear her voice, "Jamie?" she called as she knocked on the door of the tiny bedroom of their small apartment. Jamie looked up and watched as she slowly crept in, his beautiful fiancé, Cara. "I was going to order in tonight, want anything?" Cara asked, she had a sad look in her eye as if she wanted to comfort him for his recent loss but wasn't exactly sure how. Jamie sighed and smiled at her lovingly, "No, I'm good..thanks' babe.".

Cara looked at him once more, looking as if she wanted to add more to their conversation, and then left the man to his thoughts. Jamie leaned back in the chair he had been sitting in, holding the letter in front of his face and eyeing the words over again. "Why would he leave me the entire arcade…doesn't he have children…or friends.." Jamie complained though he knew the exact reason why the old man had given him the rights to the arcade.

Jamie had been employee of the month several times, he knew how to fix the arcade games as well as install upgrades, he had reached a manager position and he had taken over the arcade since the old man had gone into the hospital for the last few months. Not only that, but his future wife had done work for the old man several times, restoring old games and even upgrading one of their most famous games a few times or two. It was no secret that he would one day inherit this popular place, but for Jamie he wasn't expecting it to be that moment, of that hour, that evening.

The poor man knew tomorrow would be a big day, tomorrow he would have to wake up and run several errands, make phone calls and start the progress towards owning the arcade. Not to mention make funeral arrangements. Jamie sighed and lay down the will on the table he had been sitting next to, got up and lied down on Cara and his bed. Immediately he was felt with the overwhelming sense of sleepiness and he closed his eyes, dreaming about his busy schedule tomorrow.


	2. Sawyer SchweetFudge

Marshmallow pressed his face upon the glass of the window, peeking out at the world as he did. "Sir..?", a voice asked behind him but he ignored. He had bigger issues to attend to than figuring out what the other guards could possibly want. "Sir.." the voice said again causing Marshmallow to huff loudly and turn towards the voice. There standing in the doorway of the young royal's room was a Candy corn guard, looking rather unsure how he should be feeling about Marshmallow.

Ever since Nelly, Turbo and Vanellope's showdown twenty years ago, the castle agreed that they needed to offer anyone willing to become an Oreo guard to help better protect their precious Princess and game more effectively. Although it helped some, Marshmallow was up to his ears in trainees and guards who simply had no sense. Every week it felt like he was sending more and more candy guards away as they failed to do their job. Here was another example of a Candy corn guard bothering a higher up guard, Marshmallow, when he should be doing his job.

"If it has nothing to do with the young racer we are looking for, than I order you to return to your duty." Marshmallow said sternly as he rubbed his soft forehead, feeling a headache coming on. The Candy corn gulped and shook his head no, "Actually sir..it has to do with..ah.." he trailed off and Marshmallow shot him a look as if he was trying to see within his words. "We found him…but I'm not sure if you'll be happy about it." The Candy corn laughed but immediately silenced as Marshmallow raised an eyebrow at him.

"Not happy..?" Marshmallow asked and walked towards the Candy corn, "Do tell me, where has he run off to now?". The Candy corn looked worried to tell Marshmallow the exact location of the young boy and for a moment Marshmallow wondered if he would ever tell him. But the Candy corn took a final sigh and said, "He's at the factory…"

Marshmallow rubbed his eyes in frustration, "Well we need to send for his parents then.." and waved him off without giving him any real order. The Candy corn bowed and rushed off quickly, knowing exactly what to be done regardless, since this has happened several times before. Marshmallow stood a moment more in the Royal's room than quickly headed out and down, making his way towards the exit of the Castle.

Along the way he ran into Sour Bill who was looking just as annoyed as he was. "Did you find him?" he questioned Marshmallow, who quickly gave the higher up a salute, "Yes he is once again at the Factory.." Marshmallow sighed and Sour Bill rolled his eyes, "Of course, again.". He seemed to want to chuckle as well, but neither ever did offer the situation even a chuckle. "Did you alert the Princess…?" Sour Bill asked and seemed a little worried as Marshmallow nodded, "And her right side?".

Marshmallow nodded again, showing that everyone was on the alert of where the child was, "This child is just as wild as Princess Vanellope herself.." Marshmallow mumbled as they caught up with the other guards as they were heading out towards the factory, "Unfortunately I don't think we can all handle another Vanellope.."

* * *

"WARNING ALERT…INSUFFICIENT INGREDIANT'S…WARNING.." the alarm was blaring now and the young boy knew the guards would be there soon enough to take him back to the castle, back to his parents. "Shoot…" he hissed as he pulled at another lever, hoping to silence the terrible noise. But every button or switch he hit or flicked seemed to make the entire factory grow angrier, or at least louder, than before. Finally the kart he was making crashed to the end of the line and ingredients of frosting, sprinkles and other assortments landed with a loud plop on top of it.

The boy rushed over and scrapped away at the contents, hoping he would find a beautiful kart inside, only to be let down once again as the kart was an utter failure of goo. He sighed heavily, kicking the kart with his foot and walking away from the disaster. "How hard is it to make a stupid kart…geeze.." he complained, mocking his own incapability to make one. He continued to pout for a moment or two before turning around to try again, hoping to make another kart before the guards arrived.

Just as the boy had stepped back at the controls, he heard voices and the thundering of feet as well as the roaring of an engine. "Shoot!" he yelled again and took off towards the opposite direction of the noise, towards the back door of the kart factory. He nearly tripped over his own feet and then again over the frosting and other ingredients as he pushed out the door and down the road leading towards the gates of the factory.

"Come on kid, we know you're in there!" one of the guards hollered as the boy laughed, "Ha ha funny thing is I'm not anymore!". The boy eyed the hole in the fence, the one he had cut earlier that day, and ran with all his might towards it. "These guards really need to come up with a better plan.." the boy laughed, with the feeling of total success as he neared the gate. All he'd have to do now was get through the gate and make a run for it out into the world of Sugar Rush, and then he could return later tonight and try again at making a kart. He was nearly upon the hole when he felt a tug at the back of his race jacket.

The poor boy felt as if he was being choked when an Oreo guard spotted him, took off after him, and grabbed him by the collar. "Oh your Majesty..I am so sorry!" the Oreo guard quickly apologized but seized him by the arm so the young Prince wouldn't run off anymore. The Prince coughed a bit and grabbed at his neck but didn't say a thing to the guard, he knew the guard had every right to grab him in such a way and he knew that's exactly what his Parents would say when they arrived home from racing that evening.

"C'mon Prince.." the Oreo guard said cautiously as he led him towards the other guards. The young Prince looked down at the ground as he walked through them; a few gave him sad looks while others smiled cheerfully at him. Regardless of his behavior they all seemed to adore the Prince regardless which gave him both a happy feeling in his heart as well as a guilty one for misbehaving.

"Well, here he is.." a voice shouted out and the Prince looked up to see his old friend and guardian, Marshmallow standing up ahead with his hands on his hips and looking as grumpy as usual. By his side was Sour Bill and a few higher up guards, both looking grumpy as well.

"Prince Sawyer SchweetFudge…it's lovely that you decided to play hide and seek with us again, but next time how about letting us know we're playing instead of doing all the hiding!" Marshmallow joked but there was a hint of seriousness to his voice. Sawyer walked slowly up to his highest guard and smiled sheepishly at him, his giant bucktooth grin that was the splitting image of his mom dominating a large portion of his face.

He had on his typical programmed outfit that day which was a pink and brown racer jacket with a teal tank underneath, he had on brown pants that had a teal swirl design down one leg and a pink swirl design down the other. His hair was bright blonde to the point it could almost be white and his eyebrows were jet black, he had peach skin tone like his Mom Vanellope and every time he smiled, some could swear he was the splitting image of her. To anyone just simply looking, Sawyer SchweetFudge was not a Prince. Or at least the Prince they'd expect to see, he was clumsy, rebellious and a troublemaker like both his Mom's; but he was kind and a leader like nobody else.

"But Marsh…I wanted to ride really badly.." Sawyer whined and flashed the candy treat his beautiful blue eyes. Marsh had to look away, too many times had he given in with that look both to his Mother and to Sawyer. "I'm sorry Sawyer, your Mom's have already been notified…we need to get you home." He stated coldly, trying not to look at the ten year old as his face flashed to horror.

"You..didn't..!" the young Prince almost begged and Marshmallow shook his head gravely. Sawyer gaped and could hardly move as the group started their way back, Sawyer knowing he was going to be in the greatest of troubles as he arrived home.

* * *

"Reese won again.." Ran said as he watched the racers zoom past the finish line for the twelfth time that day. Ran, Rainbeu, Mark, Cake and several other copies took the sidelines as the Racers rode on that day, being that it was their turn for the track. Reese, Rancis and Gloyd's son, had joined the roster and raced alongside both his Father's regardless of everyone's protests that he was not following the rules that Princess Vanellope had put in place. It only infuriated everyone more that he was winning every single race he did.

Reese Cream was a programmed child, an idea that had come to mind about ten years ago when the land of Sugar Rush had been upgraded again to age a significant amount of years. Reese Cream was the child of Rancis Fluggerbutter and Gloyd Orangboar, he had deep brown eyes with blonde hair, orange cheeks with a peach skin tone. The boy usually wears the same color scheme as both his parents but on a lighter tone, his racer jacket is a light orange and brown mix with a cream color shirt underneath. His pants are typically light brown as well and seem a bit too long for him as they pool at his feet. Like his Father Rancis, the boy sports a Reese cup hat atop his head and he has a pair of light brown gloves with Reese cups on the side.

Reese was supposed to be racing with the other children Rocky, Abelle and Crackle. But because of his skill with racing, his Fathers always protest and try to get him into the Racer's day to race instead of with them. "I just don't see how it's fair.." Cake complained, getting ready to greet her Racer, Candlehead. "I get it..the kid's super talented, but why should he be able to race two different days in a row?". Ran shook his head, knowing that if he answered her it would only cause more trouble and with the children there he didn't want to cause anymore problems. "I suppose it's not a big deal, its Vanellope's decision anyways…" Ran eventually said as they approached the others who had parked their karts along the finish line and were crawling out to greet them. Among them were Vanellope, Taffyta, Gloyd, Rancis, Snowana, Reese, Swizzle, Minty, Creumbelina, and Jubileena who all looked pretty worn from the races that day, everyone except Reese that is.

As the group approached the Racers, they split off as they typically did, Racers going to their Copies and children. Candlehead, Cake, Vanellope, Mark, Taffyta, Rancis and Snowana all stood off away from each other as the others talked on their own about the race, Reese and about how they would do better on the next one.

"That was quite some practice.." Candlehead said, her voice sounding annoyed but smiling as best she could in front of her daughter, Cake "Crackle" Pop. Cake pop was a sight to see with her bright green hair that she refused to have pulled back and fell down in layers on her back. She wore a sleeveless bright pink dress with a brown jean jacket over it, her stockings were brown and bright pink and although they don't quite fit she enjoys wearing her Mother's black and pink boots. Her skin is tan like her Father Mark and occasionally when she flips her hair back, you can see a set of pink cake earrings with candles on them. Cake Pop is her full name but she has been given the nickname Crackle by several Racers and Copies since she was named after her Aunt, Cake, and it was confusing calling the two by the same name.

"I thought you did great Mom!" Crackle said as she looked up to her tall Mother, Mark walked up cautiously behind the young girl and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You did as well as you could…with the situation you were given.." he said and glared over at Rancis and Gloyd who were showing off their son, Reese. Crackle looked between the two and then back at Reese, confused why the adults were suddenly so angry. "Regardless it was fun!" Candlehead laughed, not wanting to upset her daughter and offered her a tight loving hug.

The others agreed and were just about to move on to starting up the next race when an Oreo guard arrived on the premises for Vanellope. Since stepping out of her kart, both Vanellope and Taffyta were reasonably quiet, wanting to hear their friends take on the race and enjoying the company that they brought, but as the guard arrived Taffyta sighed loudly and looked at Vanellope with a stern look as they walked over to the guard and away from the group.

"What?" Vanellope asked looking between her wife and the guard, "It's not always bad news, Taff…" she said in the most positive way she could, knowing it was probably bad news. "It's been quiet all morning; I know he's going to tell us about Sawyer…" Taffyta huffed and raised an eyebrow to the guard, "Well?". The guard seemed taken aback, not sure if Taffyta was a psychic of some kind, but cleared his throat and began his announcement. "Marshmallow has requested your arrival back at the castle Princess…it's about Sawyer..".

Taffyta smiled, feeling smug that she was right and looked over at Vanellope as she rubbed her head. "Thank you, we will be there asap!" Vanellope said and the guard proceeded to leave, "Okay so maybe it's always bad news..but I have faith one day that he'll learn!" Vanellope said as she turned to get into her kart, Taffyta in tow. "He's every little bit like you my love, rebellious and stubborn…I think you're a little delusional" Taffyta joked but smiled softly at Vanellope as she could see her frustration. "But if there is anything I have learned from Sugar Rush and you, it's that anything is possible." She added and kissed the woman on her cheek, rubbing her back as she sat behind her in the Princess' kart. Vanellope felt better then and smiled back at Taffyta before clicking on the engine and heading towards the castle. They didn't need to inform anyone at the track why they were leaving, they all knew from experience about young Sawyer and his rebellious ways.

"I'm honestly not so worried about Sawyer right now…what's bothering me is Reese and his parents." Taffyta said as the world zoomed past them. Vanellope sighed and looked back at the track that was slowly disappearing, "He is very talented, but his parents are very ridiculous too." Vanellope said, focusing back on the road. Taffyta nodded, agreeing with her, "We'll have to address that situation soon, before the boy becomes too old.". Vanellope smiled and leaned her head back into Taffyta, "We will Taff, don't you worry."


	3. The topic of racing

The way back from the factory was much shorter than Sawyer would have wanted it to be, especially since he knew what would be awaiting him when he arrived back to his home, the castle. Marshmallow rode in the passenger's seat while Sawyer sat in the back of the new Guard karts, a four seater kart that the castle had made when Sugar Rush kept expanding and the trips between each destination were no longer walking distance. The kart's were meant to go an average speed but to Sawyer it felt like they were driving a bit too fast as they pulled back at the Castle just moments after his Parents, Princess Vanellope and Right side Taffyta had arrived home. The two stood at the top of the steps as Sawyer slowly crawled out of the kart, "Hey Mom, Mommy…" he said awkwardly wondering if they had known about his recent attempts. "Inside Sawyer.." Taffyta said and pointed to the Castle doors, her face did a mix of both love and scolding that honestly scared the crap out of young Sawyer as he quickly ascended the steps to the castle and followed the two inside.

The women wasted no time in escorting Sawyer to his room, which originally was a guest bedroom that was broken down and resized for the young boy. Opening up the door, Sawyer walked in and sat down on his large teal designed bed and waited for his Parents to begin their talk to him. Vanellope was next in the room and waited for Taffyta as she spoke to the guard, saying something about not coming in, and shutting the door softly behind her and walking with Vanellope up to Sawyer. Both women had their arms crossed and looked a little disappointed at the boy, which didn't help Sawyer's confidence with this next argument at all.

"Sawyer.." Vanellope started to say and then silenced herself, unsure how to go about asking him. Sawyer looked up at them, his bright blue eyes flashing in the light of the room and waited for them to begin. "I don't know what to say Sawyer honestly…we both have told you are not allowed to race, let alone have a kart." Vanellope stated and Sawyer nodded though it was obvious he did not agree. "I have asked the guards to watch you, we have stayed home with you on several racing days and we have even allowed you to explore around all the wonderful places here in Sugar Rush…" Vanellope said, "and yet all you want to do is exactly what we tell you not to do.."

"That's not it Mom!" Sawyer said suddenly, breaking his silence, "I just wanna race…I don't wanna do dangerous stuff, I just wanna race with the other kids!". Vanellope sighed and looked at Taffyta for help, "Honey we will let you race, just not now…you're too young and you need practice." Taffyta said and she went to go sit down next to Sawyer on his bed, rubbing the back of his head softly. "The other kids are not racing as often as you think anyways…" Taffyta said, trying to make him feel better. But Sawyer shook his head, "They get to race every third day, and how am I supposed to practice if I can't even get in a kart?" the young boy said, looking defeated. "It's not fair.."

Taffyta breathed in heavily and looked up at Vanellope, several times they had had this discussion about Sawyer driving and several times Taffyta has been the one to break and say he should be allowed to drive. But Vanellope has refused to allow it and being the stronger willed parent of Sawyer, she always made sure to help Taffyta right when she knew she couldn't take saying 'no' anymore. "Sawyer that is our final decision…you will not be allowed to race until we say otherwise, there is a lot of danger to racing and you will have to learn that before we allow you to race..do you understand me?" she said and Sawyer nodded his head.

"Now then, you made a lot of Guards and Castle residents upset today, I expect you to go apologize to every single one Sawyer.." Vanellope stated while Taffyta agreed and stood up to take the young Sawyer's hand to lead him out of the room. Sawyer took it after some hesitation, feeling defeated and downright glum. But allowed his parents to take him around the Castle to apologize, regardless if he was sorry or not.

After his apologies he was sent to his room for the evening as punishment for his actions and although typically Sawyer would be frustrated with this, tonight he was glad to get some alone time. The young Prince sat down at his desk in the corner of his room and drew out design after design of what he hoped his kart would look like one day, he was so engulfed with the project he almost didn't hear the door open or his friend Marshmallow wander up next to him.

"Can't stop a bird from flying, so I suppose you can't stop a racer from racing eh?" Marshmallow asked as he eyed his paper. Sawyer nearly jumped out of his skin, not realizing he had a guest, "I'm going to try every single day to get a kart Marshmallow…I'm a racer, I'm programmed to want to race!" he said, feeling a little annoyed that the candy had bothered him since getting him in trouble. Marshmallow smiled at him, not wanting to fight with the young Prince anymore. "Sir your Mother is the Princess of Sugar Rush well before you became Prince…I have to follow her orders before yours." He commented and Sawyer nodded his head, not wanting to argue as well.

"I'm not saying she is right though and I hope we have the hardest time finding you tomorrow young Sir." Marshmallow said and bowed his head to him before leaving for the night. Sawyer smiled and watched him as he went. Marshmallow was a stiff most of the time, always following the rules and constantly being a block for his plans. But he was indeed grateful to have the candy treat around.

* * *

"Maybe tomorrow we could take Sawyer to the track so he can watch you race again?" Taffyta asked Vanellope as the two were getting ready for bed. Taffyta was sitting down at her vanity table and brushing her hair while Vanellope had already crawled into their king size royal bed and was waiting for her to finish. Taffyta could see Vanellope's distaste for the suggestion as she eyed her from the mirror, "I don't think we should reward Sawyer for his bad behavior today.." Vanellope said as she crossed her arms.

Taffyta turned in her seat to face the Princess, "I'm not saying we are rewarding him, I'm saying he has waited a long time to race now and I think the very least we can do is show him what it's like?" Taffyta suggested knowing exactly what Vanellope was going to say next. "Taff if we take him to the track it'll only encourage him to want to race more, we're having a hard enough time trying to keep him from racing now!" she complained and leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling.

The room was quiet then but Vanellope knew she hadn't won the argument as she heard the screeching of the vanity chair, footsteps and eventually felt her wife crawl across the bed and sit on top of her lap. Vanellope looked at Taffyta as she moved her hands upon her face and stroked it lovingly, "Vanellope, Turbo and Nelly are gone…Sawyer will be safe as long as we carefully watch him.." Taffyta said softly. Vanellope wanted to immediately run away from this situation, this conversation, which they were having. It was one of the many reasons why Vanellope had ever told Sawyer "No" to racing, the reason why she wandered past his bedroom at night sometimes, worried the boy could be snatched up by the evil beings. If Sawyer was a true image of her and Taffyta, a true racer, it would be only fate that Nelly or Turbo would find a way back to get to him.

"Taffyta…" Vanellope started to say, tears filling her eyes, but no sooner had the words escaped her lips; Taffyta silenced her with a sweet kiss. "Vanellope, just think about it alright?" she asked and moved off of her lap to lay next to her on the bed, snuggling and kissing Vanellope's shoulder as she did. Vanellope snuggled into Taffyta as well, feeling an overwhelming joy being there next to her, "I will try Taffyta..".

* * *

"So you got caught again huh?" Crackle asked as she sat waiting for Sawyer that morning on the steps, Sawyer and Crackle often hung out while the adults were away at the races. Yesterday was an exception since Crackle's Aunt Cake took her to the races to watch and get tips for when she was going to race in the next few days. Sawyer could almost say her leaving him bored for the day was the reason he decided to go through with his plan to make a kart, regardless of the early stages in the plan. But he knew that regardless of the events of yesterday and whether or not Crackle was going to be there for it, he probably would have gotten caught.

"Yeah, I almost had a kart this time..next time I'll need to plan out my escape better and maybe I won't get caught so easily.." Sawyer laughed, sitting down next to the girl. A Guard behind him coughed, reminding Sawyer that he was listening but Sawyer ignored the silly Guards remarks. "Anything interesting happen at the races?", Sawyer asked excitedly, occasionally there would be a crash or somebody would argue with others that would require the Guards to intervene. Sawyer truly enjoyed hearing every single detail of the race and how his Moms did during it.

Crackle scratched her head, trying to think of anything, "Nothing too exciting..Reese won everything again." She said and Sawyer rolled his eyes. "Why is Reese still racing..I thought my Mom said he couldn't anymore?" Sawyer questioned but Crackle shrugged her shoulders, "I think they argued a bit at the beginning of the race and your Mom just allowed it..everyone was mad, but I think they didn't want to upset us kids there so they just let it slide.". Sawyer felt frustrated, every time Reese wanted to race everyone just allowed him to, even his own parents. Reese wasn't supposed to race with the rest of the adults, even if it was just practice, and yet he was allowed to race in almost every single race even if it was supposed to be just Copies or Racers.

"I don't see the big deal honestly.." Crackle said suddenly when Sawyer had been rather quiet, but hearing the girl say that had caused an uproar in his mind. "It is a big deal!" he hollered but lowered his voice when he saw how frightened she became, "Sorry, it's just.." he started to say and then sighed looking down at the ground, "Reese is getting his score up every time he races..eventually the gamers are going to start playing him all the time and he'll get more popular to where he'll have to race in every single race because it will help our games popularity.". Crackle nodded her head as she listened but wasn't exactly sure what the problem was although Sawyer was explaining it.

"My score is zero, because I have never played..making me look like a bad player..like I've never won." Sawyer said sadly, "Nobody will pick me when I get older and I'll just have to stick with second place all the time while Reese gets first…". Crackle seemed to understand now and her face showed a little worry, possibly from her own scores as well. "That's why I need to race, I can't just wait till I'm older…I need to do something now!" he yelled and stood up feeling confident.

"Goodness you have so much energy in the morning.." a voice called out to the two kids, Sawyer looked down to see his friend Rocky standing there and waving up at him. "I wish I could be as awake as you are!" he laughed and Sawyer smiled brightly at him as he rushed down to greet him, Crackle stumbling behind. "Yeah but I only have this much energy cause I have nothing to waste it on…which is why todays the day I'm going to get my first race!" Sawyer said boldy and Rocky rolled his eyes and chuckled, "We'll see…do you have any new plans?"

Rocky was a cheerful character that added to Sawyer and Crackle's group nicely, he was realistic but never judging of what Sawyer had to say or what his plans were for the day. He was the son of Snowana and Ran, a dark skinned fellow with wavy jet black hair and a pair of beautiful purple eyes. Rocky wore a black and dark brown racer jacket with a white t-shirt underneath that had a Reese cup and a scoop of ice cream on it, a Reese cup hat that fit snuggly over his gorgeous wavy hair and dark brown skinny jeans with black converse. Occasionally Rocky would do without his racer jacket, instead wearing sweat bands on each of his wrists that were dark brown and white. He is the only racer of Sugar Rush to purposefully not wear a helmet aside his parents protest.

"I have a few, but they are still in the early stages…" Sawyer said chuckling a bit which caused Rocky to smirk at him, "We better sit down and look at all the probs in this plan, we don't want an incident like yesterday!" he commented and Sawyer gave him an odd look, "Geeze does everyone know about what I did yesterday?". Rocky and Crackle both replied an obvious "Yes.", and then laughed at how quick they were to respond to the boy's question.

"Man.." Sawyer started to say but heard a giant alarm go off, "A race is starting!" he beamed and tugged at Rocky's hand, "C'mon…you have your kart with you?" the boy asked eagerly and Rocky laughed. "Of course, let's go!" Rocky said enthusiastically as the three friends took off towards the race track.


	4. Disobeying

"Why do I get the sinking feeling we're going to get caught up here?" Crackle asked as the two boys she was with crawled up to the ledge to look down upon the racers getting ready for the next race. The cliff was a perfect spot, one that towered high above Sugar Rush and gave the trio a great view of nearly every location in their large game. Still the group always stayed low and only peeked out when they knew somebody wasn't looking.

Rocky turned back to Crackle as she made her comment, "Probably cause you're not keeping low, you're just standing there!" he laughed as Crackle immediately dropped to the ground, realizing this was indeed true. Sawyer was too distracted with watching his Parents race again to add anything to the two's conversation, with him the boy had a pair of binoculars that he used to get a closer shot of his Mom Vanellope speeding up to the front of the line and his Mommy Taffyta towards the middle. "My mom got picked today!" Sawyer said with a big grin on his face.

"I've seen your Mom race, she's really cool.." Rocky said as he tried peeking through the binoculars as well, "One time she did this awesome swerve trick when she almost got knocked out of the race by Gloyd and.." Rocky silenced himself when he realized Sawyer's face starting to look sad. Crackle noticed it immediately soon and waited for the young Prince to tell them what was wrong.

"I just wish my Mom would let me see her race.." Sawyer said after being silent for some time. The group was eerily quiet, Rocky was trying to think of a way to cheer him up when suddenly the roaring of engines exploded and made all of them jump out of their skin. "There they go.." Rocky said pointing down to the track as karts took off; he smiled as he saw his Mom's kart head off as well. Sawyer stood up then, knowing that nobody would notice them now that the race had started and looked at his two friends excitedly.

"Now then, here's my plan for getting a kart.."

* * *

Reese saw them before any one of the adults had, the three amigo's standing up atop the giant cliff just a ways away from the track. How anyone hadn't seen them was beyond the young boy but no sooner had they arrived, the group wandered off and back down the cliff. If it was his guess, probably to make a kart for the Prince again. The boy was always off trying to disobey his parents, Reese envied him for his rebellious ways.

Suddenly Reese felt a pain in the back of his head and heard a loud smacking sound, "Pay attention!" his Father snapped and Reese focused back at the giant television board that showed the Racers zooming through the track. When Reese wasn't allowed to race he had to watch the races still and he had to practice several times that evening when the track was free for training, his Father and Papa would make sure that he learned something that day about racing.

But although his eyes were on the race, his mind was on the Prince. His curiosity sky rocketed about the young man every time his name was uttered around him and whenever he happened to catch a glimpse of him. Reese wasn't sure why he was so intrigued by the boy but he always had been to the point it would be all he thought about. Prince Sawyer SchweetFudge, although he had never officially met him, Reese knew almost everything about him. He was the topic of their families' discussion on a day to day basis, from aggravating annoyances to comical frustrations. Even if the boy wasn't on Reese's mind so often, his family wouldn't forget a moment to remind the young man of the Prince's existence.

"Father..will I ever race against the Prince?" Reese asked suddenly, he wasn't sure who was more surprised by the question; his Father or himself. Reese's Father scratched his chin a moment before nodding, "You will I'm sure of it…" he started to say and then smiled down at the boy, "But don't worry son, you'll be able to beat him.". Reese remained silent, not wanting to disappoint his Father with his words anymore. But his mind filled with the Prince and the wonder of why he needed to defeat the boy who couldn't even race.

* * *

"You're really good at driving your kart Rocky!" Sawyer said as he sat next to him and Crackle, squished into the brown, white and black kart. The kart's theme was ice cream and Reese's cup, it was smooth and gave off the scent of chocolate and peanut butter as Rocky drove it. His parents had made Rocky his first kart when he was about seven and ever since then they've made sure to get him some practice whether it be just driving home from the track or racing on the days the children were allowed to.

"Thanks Sawyer, but I won't be nearly as good as you are when we finally race together today!" he laughed and Sawyer felt his heart explode with excitement, today could be the day. Crackle was reasonably quiet the whole drive there, looking over the plans that Sawyer had drawn up for his kart and going over in her mind what she needed to do when they arrived at the kart factory. Sawyer noted that the girl was always trying to get the fine details down of every plan they did, she was one of those kinds of people that needed to know everything before doing anything.

Rocky was the first to point out the factory in the horizon but Sawyer was the one who spotted the Guards and all their defenses from every single angle. "Geeze…Mom's weren't kidding.." Sawyer gasped and quickly went to part B of their plan. Rocky slowed down his kart and opened up the trunk of the vehicle allowing Sawyer and Crackle to hop inside and be covered up by a milk chocolate colored tarp. "Hold your breath; I don't know if we have air going through here!" Rocky laughed, Crackle and Sawyer weren't sure if he was joking but they still managed one last breath before the boy slammed the trunk down.

Rocky rushed back into his kart and started to drive up to the factory where a few guards immediately started to question him. "What's the problem Rocky?" a large Cookie asked as Rocky glanced up at him. "Ah I don't like the color of my kart anymore…my Mom said I could come here and change it?" Rocky replied simply as the Cookie looked the kart over. The lie was silly and rather plain but the trio hoped it would work to stump the Guards who have been known for their ditsy ways.

The Cookie scratched its head and gave a curious look to Rocky before raising his hand, a signal to the other Guards to clear the way for the incoming kart. Rocky smiled and said a quick thank you before driving into the factory lot; there he was motioned to a building where the karts are typically made. A Jawbreaker was there to lift the giant door to allow the boy and his stowaways in, Rocky parked the kart near the decoration station and turned back to wave at the Jawbreaker who smiled and waved back, then closed the giant door.

Immediately after Rocky went to the trunk and allowed his passengers out, "That was a bit too easy if you ask me.." Rocky commented and the others had to agree. "They must be planning something.." Sawyer said but was happy just to be getting out of the kart after a bumpy sore ride. The three looked around as if at any moment somebody would pop out and seize them, but after a moment or two of complete silence the gang decided it was time to move forward. Rocky went to the large door and found the lock, locking it would prevent any Guards from immediately coming in and giving them more time. Crackle found another large door and went to lock it as well as Sawyer surveyed the stations.

"I just need help with the ingredients..if you guys can help me with that, then I'll be able to do the rest!" Sawyer stated and the other two nodded, going to their stations and getting ready to quickly make the kart. Sawyer walked over to the middle of the whole kart making process, getting ready to hit buttons. "On my count…" Sawyer said and raised his hand up in the air, he eyed over at his two friends who smiled back at him ready for the command.

"One…." He started out and felt his heart stop, this could be the exact moment he was waiting for, he was finally going to get his kart! "Two…." Sawyer held his hands above the switches and knobs, Rocky stood by the ingredients ready to grab and add them to the giant bowl while Crackle was ready to hit the mix button. "THREE!" Sawyer yelled out and all three of them hit their buttons, the buttons that would start the machine, that would give the young Prince Sawyer his kart that he finally wanted.

Immediately the machine kicked alive and started to make Sawyer's kart, Rocky grabbed the ingredients that were falling down to him while also avoiding the wrong ones as well. He grabbed milk, flour, eggs and other important kart making tools to throw into the mixing bowl while Crackle got ready to hit the mix button. Sawyer watched on in awe as his friends completed their task with ease and soon enough they found a delicious kart arriving to Sawyer's end where he would decorate it.

"It's all you!" Rocky called as he joined Crackle at her side and the two cheered Sawyer on, Sawyer smiled and started to pick out his frosting colors when suddenly a noise alerted him. The other two friends could hear it as well, the noise of Guards stomping feet. "Hurry!" Crackle yelled and Sawyer quickly hit as many buttons as he could, figuring it didn't matter if it matched him or not; as long as it was a kart. The machine threw ingredients of all kinds at the poor kart, causing it to look like a complete gooey mess again like yesterday. Sawyer cursed underneath his breath and went to hit the 'STOP' button, which was the final button before the whole kart making process was over.

"SAWYER SCHWEETFUDGE!" a voice in the distance cried and Sawyer flinched missing the button, causing the kart to simply crash through as it had done yesterday. The Prince, Rocky and Crackle rushed to the kart and smoothed it away to find a pretty decent kart underneath all the mess. "Guys.." Sawyer started to say with the biggest smile on his face, but before the young Prince could thank either of his friends a large booming noise erupted from the other side of the factory door and the group could see that they had somehow blasted their way in and were descending upon them quickly. "Sawyer, let Crackle ride your kart..we'll practice later!" Rocky commanded and Sawyer nodded.

The two quickly pulled the kart out and got in just before the Guards arrived; Rocky dodged a few Guards and made it into his kart to follow behind Sawyer and Crackle. The group cheered as they escaped out of the factory building and swerved around to make their way out of the lot and into the world of Sugar Rush. The children were surprised by the amount of Guards they had to maneuver around as they circled the lot several times, looking for a hole in the system. Before long the group seemed to be stuck and was soon going to surrender. But then Rocky surprised them all and rammed his precious kart into the side of the fence, knocking it down momentarily and giving Crackle just enough time to ride through before the fence regenerated. The crew was gone from the kart factory and Sawyer officially had his kart.

"ROCKY, man you are awesome!" Sawyer cheered as they drove side by side in the vast space of Sugar Rush. Rocky smiled shyly and looked down at his kart, which had regenerated then, "I can't believe that worked though…why was that so easy?" Rocky said over the roar of the engine. Crackle was going to compliment Rocky's amazing thinking as well but when she heard his question she too was curious why that attempt was so easy when other times it had failed. Sawyer smiled and raised a fist to the air, "Don't worry about it, we did it!"

The two had to agree that it was rather exciting that they indeed had been successful with their plan, but they also felt rather uncomfortable and somewhat unsure with the situation at hand now. Still they smiled and showed their support for Sawyer, not wanting to ruin his moment as they stopped their karts to let the kid try out his new ride for the first time.


	5. Voices

"Maybe we should slow down.." Crackle said holding on to dear life as she rode with Sawyer in his new kart, "You're going a little fast don't you think?" she whimpered and Sawyer chuckled slowing down a little bit. Up ahead was Rocky who turned back and looked at the two, waving, every now and then. "Sorry I guess I was just really excited!" Sawyer said as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Moments ago he had turned on his kart and hit the gas for the first time, driving around the empty space of Sugar Rush. Already he knew how to do a trick or two with the vehicle and he was testing the limits while going extremely fast.

It seemed Sawyer was right, he was a racer and he proved that by his skills just now with his two friends. But Sawyer wanted more, to prove those very skills on the track. "I wonder how well I'll do on the race track?" he asked Crackle, who seemed horrified, "You can't race on the track…what about your Mom's?" she questioned and that's when it all hit Sawyer, like a ton of heavy topped cupcakes. What was he going to tell his Mother's? He hadn't planned the aftermath of getting his kart, he was just worried about getting one let alone hiding it. What if they destroyed it or made him take it back to the factory? Scenarios played out in the young boy's head as he realized how his parents were probably already notified.

"I.." Sawyer started to say but his voice was choking up, Crackle looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry..I didn't mean to make you sad, maybe we could all race in secret so your Mom's don't have to know?" Crackle asked and Sawyer shook his head feeling the guiltiness set in. "I have to tell them, I want to be able to race so I can get my score up…maybe if I.." Sawyer paused a moment, hearing a small voice say something over the roar of the engine. "What?" he asked Crackle but she shook her head and gave him an odd look, "What?" she asked him confused by why he suddenly stopped talking.

"You didn't…?" Sawyer started to say but then he heard the voice again, louder, as if it was inside his ear. "Race on the graveyard track.." it said and Sawyer stopped his kart to listen. "Seriously you're not talking at all?" he asked Crackle again who looked a bit frightened at the way Sawyer was behaving, "No..I'm just sitting her, what's wrong Sawyer?" she questioned but Sawyer was too far gone, listening for the voice again. At this time Rocky had noticed the two were stopped and turned his kart around to meet the two.

"Why'd you stop?" Rocky laughed as he got out of his kart, his face went serious when he noticed how pale Sawyer looked. "You alright Sawyer..?" Rocky asked and Sawyer shook his head, "Yeah sorry that was weird…" Sawyer laughed and his smile returned to his face. The boy was about to ask the Prince about what he meant but was distracted by the sound of karts approaching them fast. The three friends all looked out towards the noise, certain it must be the guards.

"Oh shoot…should we run?" Rocky asked trying to see who it was in the distance, he could tell they weren't Guard karts now but he wasn't sure who exactly was coming towards them. Sawyer and Crackle looked as well but it wasn't till Sawyer saw the teal and the pink from two separate karts did he realize exactly who it was. "No…we can't run, it's my Mom's…"

* * *

Vanellope had just passed through the finish line when she knew something was wrong. There was always the occasional guard walking around the Sugar Rush Speedway but this time there was a giant crowd of them gathering and waiting for her to exit her kart. Taffyta joined her at her side as they walked up to the guard's. "Priness Vanellope.." a Popcorn Guard saluted her and bowed his head respectively, he was an older guard and seemed to have a lot of experience, Vanellope felt good hearing news from him even if it was bad. "Yes..?" she asked, already knowing what the topic was going to be about. Taffyta reached her hand out for the Princess to grab which she took without hesitation and ran her thumb across.

"Sawyer snuck into the factory, this time he had some accomplices and they made away with a kart…we recognized the two other children as Cake Pop and Rocky Fluggerbutter.." the Popcorn Guard said sternly. Vanellope felt as if something had snapped within her and Taffyta could feel her glitches pulsating as she held her hand. "Wait my boy, Rocky was there?" Ran said as he joined the group, he was obviously eavesdropping and for all the right reasons as he heard his son Rocky had been a part of Sawyer's attempts.

"Now we're not saying it was him..but we got a wiff of Peanut butter and Chocolate as they drove away…plus we have a source saying he was the one who snuck the others in." the Popcorn Guard said causing Ran to frown in deep frustration, "I'm sorry…I didn't know Sawyer would stoop to this level, I knew the two were friends but.." Vanellope started to say but Ran held up a hand to her, "Save it, Rocky knows what he was doing…" Ran spat angrily. Snowana seemed more saddened than angry at her son's decisions and folded her arms as the two walked off to get in their karts, to find the boy.

"I'll make sure to find Sawyer myself, please head back to your duties.." Taffyta commanded, seeing Vanellope too upset for words at the moment. The Guards nodded and left the two to control their own child, as well as everyone else. The track soon filled with silence and the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the engines roaring in the distance as the Racers and Copies drove off, some to find their children. "I can't believe he's pulled other children into this.." Vanellope huffed and threw her hands up in the air, "He'll be lucky if he even gets to leave the castle after this."

Taffyta quickly put her arms around the girl, trying to still her rage, "Honey please, he's just frustrated..like us and honestly I think this is a great example of what a leader he'll be when he's older?" Taffyta stated, while Vanellope just sighed, furiously. She allowed her wife to hold her though, calming her the best she could until she didn't feel like throwing her own kid in the fungeon. "We need to find him.." Taffyta said stating the obvious.

Vanellope nodded her head, "Alright.." and the two were off in their own karts to look for their child. It didn't take long before they reached the kart factory, picking up information from the Guards in which direction the children had went, and soon enough they had caught up to them. "There he is.." Taffyta sighed happily as they descended upon the trio, all looking guilty and waiting for their punishment.

"Rocky, your parents are looking for you…I suggest you return home.." Taffyta said sternly as she stepped out of her kart, she eyed over to Cake Pop and added "Please take Cake home as well…your parents are deeply worried..". Rocky could only manage a nod before he bowed to the royals and took Crackle's hand leading her to his kart and whispering a "Bye," to their friend Sawyer who looked completely pale. The two raced off and were gone in an instant leaving Sawyer, his Parents and the karts.

Sawyer swallowed hard as he looked up to his Parents, daring to catch their eyes as they looked back down disappointedly at him. "So this is the kart you stole?" Taffyta said, not bothering to offer him a loving look today. Sawyer nodded his head slowly and looked at the ground, "You will be returning it.." Vanellope started to say only to have Sawyer interrupt her. "But why?" he cried and held out his hands, "Please Mom…I need to race, I'm sorry I went behind your back but.." he was cut off when Taffyta stamped her foot. "Enough Sawyer!" she yelled and Sawyer flinched, surprise etched into his face.

Taffyta hardly ever yelled at Sawyer asides her nature with others, Sawyer knew he was in deep trouble when his Mommy Taffyta raised her voice at him. Even Vanellope seemed shocked by the girls sudden abrasiveness but quickly covered it when she held out her hand for Sawyer, "Sawyer..you are hereby grounded to the Castle…you will no longer be allowed anywhere out past the garden or the castle gates." She said quickly and sternly. Sawyer gaped up at his Mom's surprised by their words and actions. But as time dragged on and Vanellope refused to move, Sawyer grabbed her hand and was led to her kart.

As they drove away, Sawyer noted this was one of the first times he ever rode along with his Mom while she drove; unfortunately he didn't enjoy it as much as he had hoped.

* * *

Vanellope probably circled the Castle at least three times now, always stopping just before she reached Sawyer's room. Ever since they had arrived home the three had been silent with one another, they were silent through dinner, through family time and even when Marshmallow came to visit with them they had all been silent. Vanellope was a mix of feeling frustrated with Sawyer and feeling sorry for him, she knew that she was being foolish by not letting him drive and she knew that nothing would stop him from trying to drive again. But the fact that he once again went behind her back and made a kart, a working race kart, was too far. He had always come close, but never succeeded and asides all the Guards, the rules and even the situations; somehow Sawyer was able to pull it off.

The whole situation was off and Vanellope just wanted to apologize to her son for being so harsh, but she knew if she were to apologize she would also have to admit that what he did was okay. Then she would have to allow him to race, which she wasn't ready to. On her fourth lap towards Sawyer's room she bumped into her wife, Taffyta who seemed to be on the same mission she was. "My Vanellope has similar thoughts?" Taffyta whispered and grabbed her love's hands, smiling at her. Vanellope smiled and rested her head against Taffyta's, "I just…I don't know what to do.." she said honestly and Taffyta nodded.

"Why don't we sleep on it…it's late sweetie, we can tell him in the morning?" Taffyta suggested, Vanellope nodded and the two walked back to their bedroom. A night for them all to sleep would be better than adding more hostile emotions to the mix of the already crazy day.


	6. Maybe

Rocky found Sawyer in the Castle garden the next day, lying down in a grassy area. The boy looked bored out of his mind and Rocky almost had to laugh at how pathetic looking he was. "How was your talk with your parents?" Sawyer asked him before Rocky got the chance to ask first. Rocky thought back to the discussion, he knew his parents were never truly mad at him whenever he did something wrong. But he knew they were upset with his decisions to help Sawyer out, regardless of the Royal's rules. They reminded him that although Sawyer was his friend, it didn't mean they could go breaking the rules the Princess put into place.

Overall Rocky didn't understand a lot of it, but he did know what they did was wrong and that was enough to keep him in line for a while. "I just can't race for a while…or use my kart, I walked here actually." Rocky laughed and Sawyer gave him a sad smile, "I'm sorry.." Sawyer started out but Rocky held up his hand, "Don't sweat it man."he laughed and Sawyer felt better. Rocky sat down next to Sawyer in the garden and admired the flowers for a moment before explaining to Sawyer about Crackle who was in deeper trouble then both of them combined. "I don't think we'll see her for at least a day or two…she got it bad." Rocky laughed and Sawyer again felt guilty. Crackle's parents were kind and always understanding, but when she purposefully did wrong they were always the harshest when it came to punishments.

The boys sat there for some time in silence, remembering the events of yesterday before Sawyer spoke up. "I heard something yesterday…" he commented causing Rocky to give him an odd look, "Yeah I remember that.." Rocky said and pointed to Sawyer's ear, "Hearing things?". Sawyer laughed and shook his head, "No...or maybe I guess..". Sawyer spent most of his night wondering about the voice more than anything that had happened yesterday, the voice sounded so inviting yet frightening and he wondered if it had to do with his kart.

Rocky was just about to change the subject when the two heard a Guard call for Sawyer, "Looks like my Mom's want me.." Sawyer said and stood up waving goodbye to his friend Rocky. Rocky smiled and waved back at him, but stayed in the garden. Sawyer figured he had made such a long trip he might as well stop and enjoy the candy roses for a while.

The Guards led the boy inside the Castle to a back room where his Moms were waiting for him. The room was often used for reading letters from Sugar Rush citizens or news from other games, a mail room in a way. Stacks of paper along with unopened envelopes inhabited every space of the room. A lonely gumball was sitting at a desk and slowly opening a letter to read to Vanellope and Taffyta when Sawyer and the guards arrived, he stopped and bowed to the Princess and her right hand before leaving quietly with the guards and nodding to the young Prince. Sawyer gulped as he entered the room, not sure how he should address either one since their fight yesterday. Taffyta smiled at Sawyer as she typically did and held out her hand for him to come closer, as he did Vanellope reached out her hand as well and rubbed the boy across the head. "Sawyer.." Vanellope said after taking a big breath and Taffyta nodded giving her a supporting smile. Sawyer looked back and forth at the two, not sure what they were going to say or do but nervous all the same.

"Your Mother and I have decided a few things.." Vanellope started out, "First off, the kart you took yesterday…was returned to the factory this morning and deleted as we discussed.". Sawyer's heart sank, deleted? All his work, all his friends work, had been officially destroyed while he was just hanging around in the castle all morning. Vanellope continued, "Second off…we have decided that you will be accompanied by Marshmallow from now on, if you do journey outside of the castle you will need Marshmallow at your side."

Sawyer gaped at her; he hadn't needed Marshmallow since he was at least five years old. Now Marshmallow would be with him all the time, with his friends? "But..!" Sawyer started to say but Vanellope held up her hand, "And lastly.." she started to say but held herself back, Taffyta looked at her waiting for the girl to finally speak. Vanellope continued her silence though, seeming like she couldn't get out what she needed to say. Sawyer had small tears peaking at the edge of his eyes, about to fall at any moment but waiting for his Mother's last words.

"We have decided.." Vanellope started off but was interrupted by a large alarm that filled the castle, Sawyer looked up realizing it was the alarm for the race and he looked down knowing their conversation was over. Vanellope sighed and went to Sawyer hugging him tightly, "I'm sorry sweetie, we will talk when we get home..I love you." She said as quickly and sweetly as she could. Taffyta came up and kissed the boy on his forehead before rushing out as well, leaving Sawyer there with his thoughts.

'How could they..?' Sawyer thought as he stood there trying not to cry, 'That was my kart, I made it with my friends..'. Sawyer wanted so badly not to cry but there in that room he felt hot tears slide past his face and he quickly rubbed at them, trying to make them go away. "I'll just have to run away then…since they won't let me race.." Sawyer complained and turned to leave.

"Then run away…" a voice said and Sawyer stopped dead in his tracks, the voice from yesterday was back, louder than ever. "Run away and come find me…" the voice said again and Sawyer looked about the room, trying to figure out where it was coming from. "Who are you?" Sawyer called out but the voice didn't reply, causing Sawyer to grow upset. "Don't mess with me; I'm really mad right now…where are you?" Sawyer yelled clenching his fists. The voice chuckled and for a moment it seemed he wouldn't respond.

"Sawyer…" the voice said and the Prince clenched his fists again, "I command you to show yourself to me!" he yelled truly frustrated. The Prince waited and waited, still there was no human nor candy that arrived in that room and after much time the voice was gone. Sawyer rubbed his head and he groaned, frustrated with this entire situation but remembering what the voice had said. "Run away..".

Sawyer never thought about that before, running away from home. Could he really do it? Before he could think a moment more about it, Marshmallow had found the boy and was tugging at his hand, "Sir, are you alright?" Marshmallow asked and Sawyer snapped out of his thoughts. "Y-yeah.." Sawyer said and smiled down at Marshmallow, his new twenty four seven Guard. "Your parent's asked me to find you; I didn't expect it to be here!" Marsh laughed and Sawyer tried to offer a weak chuckle, "Come now, we should go enjoy the day!". Sawyer followed Marsh, back outside to where his friend Rocky was waiting for him. The three had a great day having fun with one another but in young Sawyer's mind all he could think about was the voice and the possibility of running away.

* * *

"I wish we could have told Sawyer before we left about him joining us tomorrow.." Vanellope called out to Taffyta as they arrived at the race. Taffyta smiled back at her beautiful wife and said, "Sweetie, it's just a few races…we'll be home to tell him tonight, I'm sure it'll be fine.". Vanellope was sure everything would be fine tonight, but right now everything was not alright. The sad look on her young son's face was enough to make her want to turn the kart around and high tail it back to him, but she knew her duties as a Princess was to be here at the race. Her talk with Sawyer would have to wait.

"Sawyer.." Vanellope thought just as the clock struck down to zero.

* * *

"I'm just going in for a checkup, I won't be long sweetie.." Jamie said over the phone to his fiancé, Cara. Jamie hadn't been back to work since it happened, since the old man's death, but he was determined to make sure everything was going smoothly at the arcade. "I promise I will be home right after, love you.." he said after Cara had been silent for a while, annoyed he wasn't going to be home till later, and hung up the phone. Jamie sighed, knowing he would have to deal with that argument later. It was near closing time as he entered in the arcade; a few kids had lingered and were now being asked to leave by a fellow employee just as Jamie walked in.

The two exchanged hello's and hugged before Jamie headed back to the 'employee's only' section of the building. Although everything seemed the same the place felt completely different, even though the old man hadn't been through here in months it still felt as if something had utterly changed about the look of this old arcade. Jamie went to the break room first, fishing through the fridge to see if anything had been the old man's or just to see if it was kept up. Hardly anything was inside since there was only a handful of workers, all who typically ate out regardless.

Next he drew his attention to the game in the corner, "Turbo Time.". This game had been the old man's for months and something that entertained him till the very end. He remembered Cara fixing it up for another customer one time or another but then eventually giving it to the old man when the customer never returned to pick it up, Cara had no idea how much it meant to the old man for fixing this treasure. Jamie approached the game slowly and realized that somehow the game had been unplugged, leaning down he quickly plugged the game back in.

The screen beeped alive and Jamie was surprised to see it still working, the main character sped across the screen and said his usual "TURBO TASTIC!". It almost made Jamie laugh at how lame the catch phrase was before he turned around to work on other projects and sorting through the break room for the old man's belongings. When he was finished he realized an hour had already passed and his 'checkup' had turned more into 'work'. Jamie went to turn the lights off but a noise startled him from the game that made him turn towards it suddenly, the screen was suddenly brighter than normal and there was a crack down the screen. "Crap did it seriously just break?" Jamie yelled and rushed up to the game, examining it.

Across the screen a different kind of character was standing in place of the old, it looked like the same character but eerily darker. Instead of saying "TURBO TASTIC" as it did before, the being said "WELCOME TO THE RACER GRAVEYARD…CONTINUE?"


	7. The plan

Taffyta sighed heavily as she awoke to the sound of another blaring alarm, signaling that they had slept in much longer than planned and were going to be late for their first race of the day. "Vanellope..there's a race.." Taffyta moaned and tried to shake the woman awake. Vanellope sighed and covered herself with the blankets wanting to ignore the sounds, but after Taffyta's persistence the two eventually pulled themselves out of bed to start the day.

The women used to never worry about racing in the early morning; in fact they hardly had to race at all when it was the copies and the children's day to race. But as their game grew in popularity, they soon had to be at every single race since they were typically the ones chosen at least a few times a day. Closing the door behind them, the two took off down the hallway and towards the stairs that would lead them towards the Royal throne room and eventually down and out to the entrance. They were nearly at the stairs when Taffyta stopped suddenly.

"Sweetie lets go, they'll start without us if we don't hurry!" Vanellope stated as she ran in place, not wanting to get too far ahead of her wife but not wanting to stop all together. "But.." Taffyta started to say, looking down at Sawyer's room. She wasn't sure if the boy had been awoken by the alarm or not but they were supposed to invite him to this race today, or at least have their talk. Vanellope looked in the direction Taffyta was looking and sighed, "I know Taff, but it'll have to wait..we need to go!". Taffyta wanted to argue, to say that they should make time, but she knew they couldn't let the Kingdom down and hurried off after Vanellope. Their talk with Sawyer, no matter how badly they wanted to have it, would have to wait.

* * *

"You're running away?" Rocky asked loudly as Sawyer and him sat on the castle steps, Sawyer gave him a dirty look before nodding his head. Rocky then realized he was being a bit too loud and lowered his voice after getting the look from Sawyer, "But why?" Rocky asked and looked back once more to make sure the Guard's hadn't heard. Sawyer sighed and looked back at the Guards as well, "Cause I'm a racer..and I need to race, if I can't do it here..then I'll go somewhere else!" the Prince replied boldly.

The night before the words of the voice filled Sawyer's head, causing him to question his decision over and over again. When he awakened this morning all Sawyer wanted to do was talk to his Parents, in hope that they'd help him change his mind. But once again the two had left early for another race, not even bothering to wake him up to say goodbye. The frustration only helped fuel his decision more and now Sawyer was sure more than ever that he was going to leave Sugar Rush.

"But aren't you going to miss everyone..?" Rocky asked sounding a bit sad. Sawyer felt a little guilty then, he would miss his family, the citizens and especially Rocky and Crackle, but he needed to race and if he stayed here cooped up in this castle, he may never get to. "I will miss everyone, a lot, but I need to do this." Sawyer said with as much confidence as he could muster. Rocky nodded his head and was just about to ask Sawyer more about his plans when Marshmallow joined them. Sawyer gave him a serious look, indicating to him that he didn't want Marshmallow to know, and Rocky winked back at him showing him that he understood.

"Alright boys, sorry for that…what have we got planned for today?" Marshmallow asked cheerfully, Rocky looked at Sawyer unsure what to say to the candy Guard. Sawyer quickly stood up having prepared for this moment, "How about a game of hide and seek?". Marshmallow raised an eyebrow at the young Prince and folded his arms, "Hmm really?" he asked and Sawyer nodded happily. "Fine.." the candy treat said after thinking it over for a while, "But I'm going to hide..while you seek Sawyer..". Sawyer gave him a thumbs up and sat back down, closing his eyes and began counting. Marshmallow stood a moment more, trying to figure out the young Prince's angle before taking off to hide inside the castle. Rocky was about to take off as well before Sawyer turned to grab him by the hand, "No stay here.." he whispered and eyed up at the Guards.

"Hey you're supposed to be hiding too!" he teased and the Guards huffed loudly before taking off inside as well. Sawyer smiled rather evilly and looked at Rocky, "and now we will leave!" he explained and took off down the stairs. Rocky stood there for a moment or two, not sure if he should be surprised with how clever young Sawyer was or how dense the Guard's really were before taking off and joining the young Prince at his side.

* * *

"So do you like racing Abelle?" Crackle asked the girl as she cleaned her parents kart for the race the next day, a chore she was used to doing every time she got in trouble. Abelle nodded her head slowly but didn't offer anything to say to Crackle and looked the other way, finding something more interesting to stare at. Crackle sighed and wiped some chocolate mud off the rim of her Parents kart, "I was wondering if you'd like to practice sometime with me?" she asked trying to get some sort of reaction from the girl besides a nod or shake of the head.

Abelle was the daughter of Red, no one was quite sure who her Mother was and neither Red nor Abelle had ever told anyone who she was either. The girl was a splitting image of her Father, her theme colors were red and green like his and she displayed that in her outfit. She wore a red racer jacket with a light green shirt underneath that you could hardly see since she zipped her jacket up typically. She had on light green shorts and swirly green tights with red shoes; her hair was bright red like an apple and had a leaf poking out of her hair tie. Abelle was talkative, kind and silly around her Father but around every other character in Sugar Rush she was quiet, distant and occasionally rude when she did manage to speak up.

The girl had been staying with Crackle and her family on the Copies day to race, since her Father had to race. Occasionally she'd get to go and just watch him at the track, but he typically preferred her with his friends Mark and Cake when she wasn't going to race. They even believed that her being around Crackle would help her get some 'girl' time in as well. But as hard as Crackle tried, Abelle would have nothing to do with her. She would scoff at her, ignore her and if she did manage to say anything it was usually very rude. Still Crackle tried again and again to break the cold girl; she was doing that very thing when Rocky and Sawyer arrived on the scene.

"Sawyer!" Crackle yelled happily as the two boys arrived, Rocky grimaced and looked a little sad that the girl hadn't paid her any attention so she smiled sweetly at him and said, "Of course and Rocky!" causing him to smile. "Hi Crackle..I came to say goodbye." Sawyer said and smiled brightly at the girl, although she sported a rather confused face. "Goodbye..?" Crackle asked and looked back and forth between the two boys and even once back at Abelle who just shot her a dirty look, possibly confused but annoyed as well. "Yup, I've decided to leave Sugar Rush…I'm going to go find my own adventure as a racer somewhere else." The young Prince stated as if he had spent years deciding the matter, Crackle just couldn't shake her confused look from her face and scratched her head as the boy continued.

"My Parents just don't understand and well it doesn't look like you do either, but I'll be fine!" he assured her causing Crackle to shake her head, "But Sawyer your just a kid..you can't leave Sugar Rush!" she yelled and Sawyer scoffed a bit, "I'm also the Prince though, I think I'll be alright Crackle!". Rocky sighed and looked back and forth as the two bickered, he himself wasn't sure if he should be on Sawyer's side or Crackle's side but both seemed to give pretty good points.

"That should be a reason why you stay, one day you'll be the Prince of Sugar Rush and we'll need you!" Crackle said and stamped her foot. Sawyer huffed loudly and turned away from her, "Look I'm going to go and you're not going to talk me out of it…" he said bitterly and looked towards the ground, "You wouldn't understand…". It was true, Crackle wouldn't understand. She had never been told she wasn't allowed to do something that she loved, she never had to sit out or watch as all her friends enjoy racing knowing fully well she couldn't. But that still didn't make what Sawyer was about to do okay.

"Fine, I'm sorry.." Crackle said angrily and folded her arms, with that Sawyer turned to face her again and he showed her a weak smile. "But then I'm going to come with you.." she said as quietly as she could, the boys heard her regardless and their faces turned to shock. "No way, you can't go with him!" Rocky complained, which was unusual for the typically accepting boy. Crackle glared at him, "and why not?" she questioned, confused why the Prince was allowed to go on an adventure but not her. "I'll keep up..and I just want to make sure you're safe in your new game, then I'll head home." Crackle said in a matter of fact tone. Rocky seemed flabbergasted and the Prince looked happy, probably to have a companion join along with him.

"F-fine..I'm going too then!" Rocky stammered and smiled at the two, Sawyer smiled even brighter. "Really?" Sawyer asked, his blue eyes shimmering at the boy. "Really.." Rocky laughed and looked at Crackle, who was equally satisfied that he was going. So it was decided, there and then, that they would all run away from Sugar Rush. Away from their family, friends and even their Kingdom. Sawyer felt joyous for his faithful friends and he hugged both of them tightly after they had all agreed to leave. "I'm so lucky to have awesome friends like you.." Sawyer beamed and the two friends were going to agree before a soft voice spoke up behind them.

The group turned to look at Abelle who had this distant look in her eyes for a moment but glared as they met eye contact with her. At first all was quiet and completely awkward, unsure if the girl had spoken or not. Finally Sawyer asked the question they'd been wanting to know, "What did you say?" he questioned and the girl rolled her eyes, annoyed they hadn't heard. Then Abelle opened her mouth wider and said, "I said..you're all going to be deleted.."


	8. Off they go

Rocky and Sawyer had been waiting by the rainbow bridge for almost an hour before Crackle arrived to meet them there, surprisingly with the girl Abelle. "Ugh why did she bring her?" Rocky whined and Sawyer winced as he remembered their previous conversation with the girl. The three had been celebrating their mutual agreement to all run away when the girl suddenly decided to scare them all and give her two cents that they were going to be deleted. Rocky was the first to argue, calling the girl rude and saying she couldn't be officially sure that they would be deleted. But after the girl had made her comment she refused to talk any more, seeming to just need to say those few words and leave the situation be.

But now as she arrived at the rainbow bridge leading into Sugar Rush the boys was certain she was going to say another rude thing. Crackle stopped the girl a few feet back, whispering something to her, and then running up to talk to the boys. "Uh why is coming?" Sawyer asked, trying not to sound mad about the situation although he was completely uncomfortable with her coming along with them. Crackle took a deep breath in and let it back out, "We talked…and she wants to come with us." She said and waited for the approval of her peers. Rocky looked like he immediately wanted to say no, but then he looked back at her and then at Crackle and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…should we Sawyer?" he asked the Prince, who seemed a bit confused as well on what to do, and looked over at the girl.

Sawyer knew the more people that would join them in their adventure the harder it would be to remain secret about it, to get away and not be found out by other games, but he also knew the girl must have a reason to come with them. Especially if she felt they were going to be deleted and still wanted to join them. Sawyer sighed and nodded his head yes, causing Crackle to smile a huge smile. "Thank you, I'll explain everything soon okay?!" she yelled and ran back to Abelle to tell her. Sawyer smiled but in his heart he felt concern for the whole plans now, concern it all wouldn't work out for them as they planned.

The plan was to split back at Crackle's house, head back to their own houses and pack whatever they needed for the trip while also leaving behind anything for their Parents. Rocky didn't take much with him at all, just a back pack in case he needed to carry something. The boy contemplated leaving a note for his parents, which ultimately led him to leave nothing at all, figuring his parents would worry more if they knew exactly where he was headed. He left the house not even ten minutes after their plan had been into effect and had been waiting for the others until Sawyer arrived.

Crackle had something go down between her and Abelle that she refused to tell them yet and after that she must have come straight over to the rainbow bridge because she wasn't carrying anything but the clothes on her pixelated skin and a pocket full of gummies. As Abelle approached the group Sawyer could see she wasn't carrying anything either but she did manage to snag a red bandana that she tied onto her head, which had apples on them. Whether or not she had that item all along or snagged it from her house, the two boys' weren't sure. Sawyer had raced back to the castle, snuck in to leave a small note for his Mom's, then snuck back out. He had nothing on him as well, figuring he would be fine with no baggage than anything.

"Everyone ready?" Sawyer asked and looked at his other three companions, who all nodded back at him. Having three around instead of two was going to take getting used to but Sawyer hoped maybe that by having an even number of people in the group they could somehow create a buddy system and wouldn't have to worry about leaving anyone out or behind. That very thought seemed to immediately take effect as Rocky stood next to Sawyer as they approached the portal as well as Crackle standing next to Abelle.

Sawyer looked back at Sugar Rush one last time before running through the portal followed by Rocky, Crackle and Abelle.

* * *

The four children disappeared as soon as their bodies hit the portal door, Reese couldn't believe it was simply that easy to get out of Sugar Rush. The boy had followed the group everywhere that day from the castle, to Cake pop's house and now to the entrance of Sugar rush. He had been eavesdropping terribly and knew all about their plan, strangely intrigued by it. "Aren't they worried about getting deleted..?" Reese questioned aloud as he eyed the door as if it was a portal to see what the group was doing at that exact moment.

Coming out of the tree's, which he was hiding behind, the boy walked up towards the rainbow road and took a single step on it. He felt rebellious and his heart nearly popped out of his chest. His Father's had always been against him even getting near Sugar rush's rainbow road, knowing full well that anyone could come into and out of the entrance, especially Reese. Now here he stood, disobeying his Fathers and wanting more of this rebellious lifestyle. Yet something still held him back, something still caused him to want to run far away from the rainbow road and return to his home where he was safe.

"Could I really just leave.." Reese thought again, looking up at the portal. He wanted that experience, to be bad, to run away from all his privileges and his Father's rules. But at what cost? Would his Father's immediately find him, would they care to even look for him? Before Reese even knew what he was doing, he had taken another two or three steps onto the rainbow bridge and was nearing the entrance with a steady speed. "Just once.." Reese said and held out his hand towards the portal, "Just once I want to do something by myself.."

Reese took another step and his hand touched the portal lightly, sending shockwaves through the boy and causing his vision to blur as it took him completely through. The boy felt sick as his body flew through the stream of electricity and pushed him out to the other side, his vision returning slowly after that. Reese gasped as he looked up at the world around him, the lobby of the giant arcade, and nearly ran back to his own world as he was surrounded by various characters he would have never dreamed of seeing.

The lobby was bigger than he expected, louder than he ever thought could be and bustling with every kind of game known to the arcade. Reese must have looked rather silly as he stood there gaping at them all, unmoving. It wasn't till a large villain character passed by and the boy jumped out of the way, not wanting to hit the creature, did he realize he could move and started to wander about the place.

Reese looked at everything and everyone that passed him, like a young child at a zoo, and sported the biggest smile on his face. Everything was so new, so different, and just waiting to be questioned by the boy. Why had his Father been so mean about this place, why wouldn't they allow him to journey through this great lobby of amazing characters? The boy's curiosity was sky rocketing the more he ventured through and eventually had to sit down from all the new excitement, dizzy with anticipation.

Once the boy had taken a break, a breather, to cool down from all the fun he remembered why he was there in the first place. The Prince and his friends and ventured through the portal as well, but where were they now? Reese looked again throughout the room but this time he actually knew what he was looking for and not just wandering about. Spotting the Prince was hard at first with all the new characters, but then Reese's eyes fell upon a group of small racers to the right of the lobby, looking as dazed as he did.

Reese wanted to hide then, seeing people he knew frightened him and made him worried the group would tell his Father's for some reason. He ducked down and hid behind his chair as he watched them wander about, all unsure where to go exactly. The Prince and Rocky seemed to be reading the name of games as they walked by each portal, the girls seemed to be too busy looking at the other characters. Suddenly Sawyer stopped and pointed to a game excitedly while pulling on Rocky's arm, Rocky seemed to not get why Sawyer was so excited but smiled at the boy either way.

Reese looked up at the sign as well, trying to read it from the distance, "W-wreck…it Ralph?".


	9. Stuck?

"Guy's this is Ralph's game!" Sawyer squealed in delight, jumping up and down as if he had just seen a room full of gifts at Christmas time. The crew exchanged looks and then returned their gaze back at Sawyer, confused. "Have you guy's never met Ralph?" Sawyer asked and looked up at the bright screen of the game's sign. Ralph had been a huge part of Sawyer's life since he was first programmed; he was there when Sawyer took his first steps and watched over Sawyer several times for his Mom's just because he wanted to spend time with him. Sawyer wiggled with excitement as he realized he could now visit his hero's game, which he had never been able to do under his Mom's rules, and turned to his friends, "I've gotta let you meet him!".

Rocky smiled and turned towards the girls, "I'd be fine with that, before we explore other games!" he laughed and the girls nodded shyly. The crew was a bit more nervous at seeing Ralph than Sawyer was, they had heard stories about how Ralph had saved Sugar Rush as well as the whole arcade one time or another but that didn't mean they ever met face to face with the giant. Crackle remembered her family showing her a picture of the man but asides that, and Sawyer's description, they had no idea what to expect to see once they entered the portal.

"Come on guys, real quick…then we'll go explore some racing games!" Sawyer pleaded and the group eventually complied, moving closer to the portal with Sawyer and about to jump inside. Just before they did, the crew felt an electric shock erupt from the back of their necks and they all screamed and fell to the floor. Sawyer was dazed for just a moment before he looked up to see a rather nerdy looking kid floating above them. "And where do you think you're going?" the kid said and pushed his glasses closer to his face.

The kid was all blue with dark blue hair that was gelled down and rather professional looking; his outfit looked like that of a business man with a light blue shirt and a dark blue tie. His pants were black as well as his shoes, in his hands he had a flashlight that flickered on and off as he held it. The kid had a pair of large circular glasses and a notepad in his pocket that he seemed to have doodle on.

"What game are you from!?" the kid demanded holding up his free hand, electricity shooting from it, and eyed them curiously. Sawyer and Abelle stood up slowly but gave the boy a mean glare, while Rocky and Crackle remained on the ground worried they would be shocked again. Neither one of them spoke, afraid that this kid was either going to make them return to their game or prevent them from going into another one.

"Hey, I asked you what game are you from!" he once again yelled and Sawyer could see they were all making quite a scene now as some games stopped to watch them get yelled at by this child. "Can't you tell?" Abelle suddenly said causing the group to turn back and look at her, then back to the blue kid who seemed very frustrated. "No I cannot just simply tell!" he said frustrated and glared at the girl, "If you won't tell me I will have to report you!" he added and crossed his arms. The group once again looked back at Abelle, seeing if she had anything to say to his response, but when she crossed her arms as well and sighed loudly they all knew she wasn't going to say anything more to this conversation. All eyes then fell upon Sawyer, the leader of the group, hoping he would make the best decision for them.

Sawyer gulped, unsure what to do. He had never felt this way before, under someone's authority other than his parents. Back at his game even Sour Bill had to listen to him, if he wanted to he could even rule over most of the parents from his game as well, but here in the lobby somebody had more authority than him and was now demanding him to do something. Sawyer shook his head, clearing his thoughts, thinking about all this wasn't going to get them out of the situation they were in. Action would.

"We're from that racing game over there.." Sawyer said and pointed across the lobby at a random direction, the move seemed to confuse his friends but as they watched the blue kid turn and look they realized what Sawyer was planning. "Which one?" the blue kid asked trying to squint as he looked over the area, not seeing any racing game in sight. "Way down there.." Sawyer lied as the group took a step back, then another, and Sawyer gave the thumbs up to turn and run.

"Where..?" the blue kid asked once more before realizing he was hearing the sound of running feet, he turned to see the children all dashing away inside the portal. "Hey, you can't go in there it's broken!" he screamed, but the children had already gone through and disappeared causing the boy to clench his teeth in frustration. He was just about to run in after them when he stopped just short of a step or two into the portal, he couldn't go in after them, which would be breaking the rules his father and several other arcade police had set. The boy sighed heavily and stood waiting for them outside of the portal, he may not be able to go into this broken game, but soon enough they would have to come out.

* * *

The portal felt different somehow, in a way that Sawyer couldn't put his finger on as the children swirled and twirled through the bluish electricity waves. Sawyer almost thought he was going to be torn apart as he traveled through to the other side, but no sooner had they entered the portal they quickly were spat back out and Sawyer felt his first step on the plush grass of Ralph's game. "That wasn't the best idea Sawyer.." Crackle said as she looked him over as if seeing him for the first time, her face looked frustrated. "Well it was either this or get caught.." Sawyer said blatantly which caused Crackle to sigh and shake her head, "I much would have rather been caught then..". Sawyer frowned harshly at her and the girl returned the mean look, not wanting to back down because the Prince thought his bold move was right. "Plus I'm sure he's going to be waiting for us when we leave Sawyer!" she added and folded her arms, looking towards Rocky.

Before Sawyer could get another word in, Rocky interrupted, "Look it doesn't matter..we're here now, why don't we go say hi to this Ralph character?". At the mention of Ralph again, Sawyer smiled brightly and took ahold of Rocky's hand. "Yeah!" he yelled and pulled him along, "C'mon guys, let's go look for him!" he beamed and Rocky had to let out a small chuckle at the boy's eagerness. Crackle seemed a little annoyed still but followed the boys regardless along with Abelle.

The group was amazed at the simplicity of the game they were in, while they were from games that had received several updates and many reprograms, this game seemed to be stuck in time with a simple graphic kind of feel to it. There was a dump that was filled with several piles of bricks, a forest with blocky leaves and vague details and then a tall apartment building where Sawyer and the others could see people bustling about. Even the sky was a pure black as no one had thought to add a pretty sky or scenery elsewhere in the game, causing it to go on forever.

"This doesn't look like a hero's game.." Abelle said suddenly and the others had to silently agree, all except Sawyer, who was still sporting a grin from ear to ear trying to spot his old friend Ralph. "Ralph has to be here, he.." Sawyer started to say but stopped as the sound of thunder erupted from the ground, causing the entire group to flinch as it exploded every so often. "What is that?" Crackle cried trying to be heard over the roaring of the noise, which was growing louder and louder as they stood there.

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" a voice screamed from behind the small children, causing them to turn and duck down low to the ground. Behind them a large body came thundering down the way and leaped over them at a frightening speed, Sawyer nearly forgot who it was in the midst of his fear. "That's Ralph!" Sawyer laughed and took off after the beast as he continued to run down the way towards the apartment building, "Ralph, hey!" Sawyer yelled out but Ralph seemed to be unable to hear him. "Ralph!" Sawyer yelled again and was nearly upon him when suddenly Ralph disappeared and the small people inside the apartments disappeared as well, causing Sawyer to stop dead in his tracks.

"What..?" Sawyer questioned, breathless and a little frustrated, he turned to his friends and shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't believe what he just saw. The other three looked just as confused and it seemed Rocky was about to say something when the people in the apartments appeared again and booming noise could be heard from afar, soon Ralph appeared and thundered down the way just to disappear as he had before. On the fourth time this happened, Sawyer noted that the people in the apartment were doing the same things over and over again just like Ralph, emotionless and completely stuck.

Abelle, Crackle and Rocky joined Sawyer at his side, saddened by the boy's confusion. "What's wrong with them..?" Sawyer asked and looked at Rocky, who was typically the most knowledgeable one in the group. Rocky shrugged his shoulders and laid a hand on Sawyer, "I don't know…but.." he trailed off and looked back at Crackle who shook her head yes, as if she was clarifying that Sawyer would be able to handle what he was going to be told. "Sawyer, their stuck.." Rocky said and Sawyer shook his head, confused, "I mean they have a virus, they are broken, they are basically stuck in a loop…Ralph won't be able to come out of it.." Rocky finished off and had to look away as Sawyer's face went to shock.

"But..I just saw him like a year ago, he was fine!" Sawyer complained and watched as his old friend repeated over and over again, hoping that somehow magically he'd just snap out of it. "My mom told me about it once, sometimes it has nothing to do with the characters..it's just the game, and when character's return to their game they get stuck..like this.." Crackle added and looked at her feet, feeling sad she had to reveal this truth to her friend. Sawyer swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at the ground as well. Ralph was a good friend, a good guy, and he was stuck here in this game as a villain and now as a raging repeating bull. He looked so angry, so frustrated, it looked as if he was trying to run out of his loop.

"But my parents..they would have told me.." Sawyer thought and tried to remember a time when he had mentioned Ralph to his Mom's, trying to think if somehow they had seemed different with their responses. Had they known all along that Ralph was like this, or would this be something new to them? And if so why weren't any of them notified of the virus? Sawyer rubbed his eyes, frustrated and rather confused to allow himself to cry for his old friend. The group stood there for a moment or two, watching Ralph scream and run into his loop over and over again before Sawyer turned suddenly to return towards the portal. His comrades followed him in silence, knowing their words couldn't help the poor boy any. Abelle was the first to go through, seeming to not feel any attachment to this place, followed by Crackle and slowly but surely Rocky and Prince Sawyer.


	10. Figuring it out

"How much longer is it going to take the Prince to find us?" the Oreo guard whispered over to Marshmallow as they hid behind the throne room chair, squished up against each other so they wouldn't be seen. Throughout the castle there was a few other guards hiding in odd and random places wondering the same thing and all growing very sore as they waited for the young Prince. "Shh, he probably is going to give up soon!" Marsh whispered and peaked out from behind the chair, "This spot is perfect, he hasn't even come close to finding us yet!" he laughed and the guard seemed to crack a smile as well, feeling excited about their perfect hiding place.

The two continued to sit as still as they could, holding their breaths when they thought they heard someone walking into the room only to be mistaken by their own imaginations. The group could have sworn they were hiding for at least another hour or two before they heard the sound of a heavy door being pushed open and the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the room. The noises caused one of the guards on the other side of the room to chuckle, which immediately alerted whoever was walking into the room as they stopped and listened.

"Hello?" Taffyta called out in an annoyed tone, one she often did when she was very much confused with the situation. Marsh was the first to pop out of his hiding place to find that they were not joined by the young Prince and his companion but by the Princess and her right side, both looking a bit confused and very tired for the day. "Your majesty!" Marshmallow cried and rushed down the steps followed by several other guards who came from every corner of the room, out of their hiding place.

Vanellope eyed all of them as if they had been wearing silly clothing or had their faces painted an odd color, "What are you all doing..?" she asked as she tried to hold in a chuckle. Marshmallow went to open his mouth but a younger guard, that looked like a mix of a mint and a chocolate kiss candy, spoke up first; "We were playing hide and seek your majesty!" he beamed and a voice could be heard from the back adding, "With the young Prince!". Vanellope smiled at the mention of her son, "So Sawyer has the whole castle playing his game now?" she laughed and looked over at her wife lovingly, who looked back just as loving.

"We'll need to speak with Sawyer immediately actually, I'm sorry you'll have to end your game early until we're done." Taffyta said and smiled as thoughtfully as she could. Some of the guards could be heard whining while other's hushed the whiners and saluted at the Princess and her right hand, immediately going to search for the young Prince. Marshmallow swallowed and looked about the room, nervous for some reason and hoping Sawyer was indeed around somewhere.

But as the three waited for the guards to come back they realized the guard's faces went to that of pure determination to frustration and from frustration to utter worry. Soon the entire castle was bustling with noise as the guards searched every nook and cranny for the boy, causing Vanellope and Taffyta to grow uneasy by the hour. "He is..in the castle is he not?" Taffyta demanded and looked over at Marshmallow whose face was growing bright red with worry, "I…I'm sure your majesty, we were playing all day…he has to be!" Marsh stammered and looked about the room as if the boy would suddenly appear, washing away all his worry and problems.

The first hour went by and then the next, soon the castle was quite determined Sawyer had somehow left the castle and guard after guard fled out of the castle to reach their own karts to search for the boy as Vanellope paced back and forth in the throne room while Taffyta chewed Marshmallow out. "How could you let him leave, you're supposed to be his guard Marsh!" Taffyta yelled and Marsh looked down at his feet, ashamed for his poor job. "I'm sorry.." Marshmallow admitted and Taffyta just rubbed her hands over her head, "Sawyer.." she said under her breath and looked over at Vanellope who seemed to be glitching every so often.

"Don't blame Marshmallow Taff, our boy knows full well what he's doing." Vanellope spat out as she walked back and forth, growing more and more frustrated as the search continued without any luck finding her son. Vanellope was about to add another comment about her son's terrible behavior when the same chocolate mint guard, who had spoken out earlier, walked sadly up to Vanellope and Taffyta with a note in their hand. Vanellope stopped and took the note from the guard without another thought and immediately began reading the note, having a bad feeling from it. Taffyta noticed how the guard seemed taken aback by the Princess' behavior and nudged her wife a bit, letting her know she was being rude, to which Vanellope nodded and smiled at the candy guard in hopes it would make up for her rude gesture.

Getting back to the note Vanellope skimmed over it and realized the main point to what Sawyer was getting at from his letter, causing her heart to drop and her face to pale. "What..?" Taffyta asked and took the note from her wife's hand, feeling her heart race with fear. Marshmallow looked up at Taffyta and then at Vanellope, not wanting to hear the worst but not expecting the best. "What is it Vanellope..?" Marshmallow asked as Taffyta sank down to the floor and covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them. "Sawyer's run away.." Vanellope said as her world went dark.

* * *

Sawyer, Rocky, Abelle and Crackle all stepped out into the lobby expecting to be harassed by the blue officer child, seeing as he was very intent on making them follow the rules. But as they looked around they couldn't spot the little guy anywhere. "We got lucky, he must have found something better to do!" Rocky laughed and nudged Sawyer in the shoulder, Sawyer offered a weak smile and looked down at his feet, probably still thinking about Ralph in the other game. "Aw come on Sawyer..don't be.." Rocky started to say but was immediately shocked by a streak of blue lightning.

Sawyer jumped back and watched as Rocky shook with the electricity going inside him and then scrambled up and next to the boy, Abelle and Crackle already had their eyes on the kid who had done the very deed. "Ha, you really think I'm that easily defeated?" the blue kid mocked and lowered himself down towards the group, it seemed he had been hiding higher up where they couldn't see him, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"Listen up kid, we don't have to listen to you!" Rocky snapped and clenched his fists, annoyed he had been shocked again. Abelle nodded her head in agreement while Crackle hid behind her, Sawyer however locked his eyes on the blue kid; ready to dodge if he was to shock them again. "Oh please," the blue kid laughed, "I am the law here and you four disobeyed that very law, no game jumping!". The blue kid fixed his glasses and smirked down upon them, "Now you must come with me.." he said as a flare of electricity formed in his hand. Sawyer looked at the others who looked back at him; they all seemed to realize at the same moment that they weren't going to get out of this situation unless they ran. Sawyer tightened his fists and got ready as his friends looked on in which direction they'd be going, "Well…what's it going to be?" the blue kid asked and tightened his grip on the blue electricity.

Within the next moment Sawyer took off north, towards the end of the lobby, hoping that the other characters would somehow conceal him. The blue child immediately shot electricity at him but missed, growling angrily and taking off after him. Abelle and Crackle ran off towards the opposite direction of Sawyer while Rocky took off towards a game he had been eyeing, thinking he'd be safe hiding their till he could regroup with the others.

The blue kid looked back at the others and felt torn, unsure if he should go after the girls, the head leader or the other boy. He clenched his teeth in frustrations and then eventually decided to continue after Sawyer, rushing off to catch up with him. "You're just full of little plans aren't you?" the blue kid yelled after Sawyer as he weaved in and out of characters, causing them to holler or fall over as he did. "But I can see you; you won't hide from me for long!" Sawyer heard the boy yell from a distance, knowing he was getting further and further away as he ran.

Games whizzed by as the boy continued to run, chased by a child officer, and he debated which game to run into. If he chose too soon he would be caught as soon as he came out, but if he waited he might be shocked in the process and returned to his own game. Sawyer felt beads of sweat as neon signs of every color of the rainbow fell past his eyes, decision after decision passing him by as he chose yet again to not enter that game.

Sawyer turned back as he saw he was nearing the end of the arcade and was surprised to no longer see the boy anywhere in sight, smiling he began to slow down, "ha, he can't even keep up.." Sawyer began to say but stopped as he heard the sound of electricity from in front of him. Turning he was met face to face with the blue officer who was hurtling a giant lightning bolt at him and wearing the most evil look, "Duck!" a voice screamed out and Sawyer immediately dropped his body to the floor. The lightning bolt whizzed just a hair over him and smashed into another player, shocking him slightly. The blue kid's face went pale and he rushed over to the player, who was yelling all sorts of profanity, to apologize. Sawyer stood up and stared on at the chaos, feeling sorry for the blue boy and the other game character but happy it wasn't him being shocked this time.

"Run…" the voice said again and Sawyer looked all around, confused. "I gave you a distraction, now run…" it said again and Sawyer realized that somehow the voice had caused what was happening, turning he took off again towards the edge of the lobby and away from the mess he had made.

Rocky however on the other side of the lobby, still thinking there was danger, rushed inside the game he had been eyeing. The boy had only a moment to look up to read the name of the game before he had entered; only catching the word 'Zombie'. Crackle and Abelle heard the lightning strike from the other end of the arcade and hopped inside the nearest game, frightened that the blue kid was closer than they had expected. As soon as they did they were met with a rather fishy smell as they flew through the portal, a smell they had never been graced with living in a land of pure sugar. Sawyer exhausted and just wanting to rest, decided to be done with figuring out which game to hide in and stumbled inside the nearest portal he could find. Looking up he read the sign, "Jurassic Park" before hobbling through the game portal.


	11. Jurassic

Sawyer woke up lying on his back, soaking wet and the sun burning into his eyes. "What..?" he groaned out as he looked back and forth at the world he was now in, curious why he was there in the first place. The area he was in was rather flat, muddy and had several large jeep like vehicles parked around where he was that had the words 'Jurassic Park' on them. Sawyer cocked an eyebrow at them and sat himself up, cringing as he noticed he was indeed very sore for unknown reasons.

He was wet because he had somehow fallen into a large puddle of muddy water, which he tried to wipe away as he stood up completely. Sawyer stretched and tried to pull himself back together as he looked about, unsure what he was supposed to do exactly, and groaned as he felt his body tense. He must have hurt himself badly on his back but he couldn't remember how, had he fallen when he came into the portal?

The noises of the jungle were loud in Sawyer's ear as he tried to think, which caused his head to hurt, and he figured it was better just to ignore why he was hurting so much and figure out more about this game to see if it was beneficial to sticking around or not. "I don't see a track anywhere…but it could be a dirt track.." Sawyer thought aloud and started to walk over to the vehicles, eyeing them over. "I wouldn't mind riding one of these.." he said again and ran his hands over it.

Immediately as he did something large jumped up and lunged at the boy, hissing and clawing at him as it did. Sawyer screamed and held up his hands in defense but was knocked down into the puddle of mud again, the creature slashing at him. "Get off!" Sawyer screamed and kicked and hit at the thing, trying to knock it off. But the creature started to bite at young Sawyer's hands, trying to tear the poor child apart. "Help!" Sawyer yelled and kicked harder at the creature, "Help!"

A shot rang out and the beast fell to the ground next to Sawyer, green goo covered half of the Prince's face and hands as he crawled away from the terrifying thing. A man ran over to Sawyer and looked him over, concern written all over his face, "You okay kid?" the man said as he helped Sawyer get onto his feet. Sawyer felt like he wasn't okay, he wanted to say he was everything except that, but he sighed and nodded his head yes to the man who smiled kindly at him.

"Good…now then, we should probably get you bandaged up before you get yourself deleted!" he laughed and turned away from Sawyer walking into the jungle. "What?" Sawyer asked and looked down at himself, he was indeed glitching a little and there were deep cuts throughout his arms which were covered in the green goo from the creature. Sawyer nearly forgot that in other games he could in fact be deleted, forever. "Yes, Now come on." The man said called out, a little more sternly, and continued his path towards the jungle. Sawyer stood for a moment looking down at the dead creature that had only moments ago tried to eat him alive, but then raced off after the man. "What was that thing.." Sawyer asked as he approached him, the two were heading deeper into the jungle and away from the jeeps but the man didn't seem to mind they were leaving them behind.

The man looked down at Sawyer and then back up at the way they were going, the gun he had shot the creature with was ready at his hand. "That was a dinosaur, I imagine they aren't in your game?" he laughed and Sawyer shook his head no, "No..not usually, but how did you know I was from a different game?" he questioned and the man laughed once more. "We typically don't have characters that look like you wandering around…and plus we typically don't have kids either." He commented and looked Sawyer over again causing the boy to blush, "I'm not a kid, I'm actually a Prince in my game.." he said and crossed his arms. The man looked like he wanted to say more, but left their conversation at that. Sawyer was happy he did, not wanting to prove his 'royal-ness' to the stranger.

Eventually the two came upon another large sort of vehicle; only this one looked more like an RV. It was basic, silver, and had another Jurassic Park logo on its side. The man opened up the door and called to someone inside, "Hey we've got an injury.." he said and walked inside the RV, not waiting for Sawyer to catch up. "An injury?" a voice called, which sounded like a woman's and Sawyer could hear the man mumble something to her. Sawyer, dying with curiosity, walked inside the RV and was shocked to see all the amazing equipment inside.

There was a kitchen that was stacked with dishes which were unclean, tons of computer programs all running at once that had pictures of creatures on them like the one Sawyer saw moments ago, what seemed to be a lab with chemicals bubbling or being mixed, weaponry of all kind was seen displayed on the walls and tables, and other fancy technology things that all had the same logo on it, Jurassic Park. Sawyer was so busy looking at everything that he almost forgot about the man and his friend, who were sitting at the end of the RV getting some medical equipment.

"Well hello there, how are you sweetie?" the woman asked and walked over to Sawyer, bringing him to their end of the RV. Sawyer blushed again, shy for some reason, and mumbled a simple "Okay..". The woman seemed to be fine with such a short answer and lifted Sawyer up to sit on their table, immediately looking at his scratches he had on his face and arm. Sawyer wanted to scoot down off of the table, feeling rather silly,but decided against it as he felt his wounds sting with anticipation to be cleaned and treated. When she seemed satisfied with her search, making sure every inch of him had been inspected of scratches and other injuries, the woman stood up and took a step back. "Oh they got you good…" she commented and went to the sink to get a towel, wetting it with water.

Sawyer took this moment to look at the two who had rescued him for the first time, the man had on a blue shirt which his sleeves were rolled up, a red handkerchief around his neck, tan pants, black boots and a hat that reminded him of an adventurer's hat in a story his Mother once told him. He had brown hair and his skin seemed tan, he looked older but very strong. The woman had blonde hair and looked very kind to Sawyer, she wore a pink shirt that she tied together at the bottom and had a blue tank top underneath it, she had on a pair of tan shorts and also had a pair of boots although she had brown.

The woman walked over and washed the green goo off of Sawyer's face and arms then immediately set to work on bandaging him up. "So…?" she asked and inclined her head to Sawyer, making it obvious she wanted to know his name, "Sawyer.." Sawyer answered immediately, feeling as if he was talking to his Mother and needed to be respectful. The woman smiled kindly at Sawyer and wrapped up his arm with some gauze, "I've always adored the name Sawyer, my name is Ellie and that's Alan." She said and nodded her head at Alan, Alan smiled but turned away as she spoke. Sawyer wasn't sure exactly why.

"Sawyer…what caused you to want to come to our game?" she asked after the three had been quiet for some time. Sawyer thought a second and then looked to the ground, not wanting to upset them "Uh it was an accident actually.." Sawyer said, which seemed to please Ellie, "I was actually hoping this was a racing game.." he added and Alan turned to give him an odd look. "A racing game..?" he questioned and Sawyer nodded his head. Ellie turned back to Alan and gave him a questioning look that had a hint of concern, "Well, this is kind of a racing game.." Alan stated and took a step closer to the boy.

Sawyer looked up, excited, and eyed the two "It is?" he asked and Alan waved a hand at him. "Well I mean we're racing for our lives actually…it's not fun, we're running away from those creatures that attacked you.." he commented and Sawyer looked a little disappointed. "It's still racing, but I'd advise against it Soy." Alan said and Sawyer almost laughed at the nickname they had already given him. Ellie was finished with his arm now and was working on the deep scratch on his face, "This may sting a little.." she said before applying some white goo to Sawyer's face. Sawyer winced a bit instinctively but it didn't hurt quite as much as he thought it would and relaxed once she put the bandage on him.

When they were all finished bandaging Sawyer up he had a wrap across his head, a bandage across his face and his entire arm was wrapped from several deep scratches from protecting himself. "I will have to say if you didn't fight for so long against that kind of dinosaur..you probably would've had your head eaten!" Ellie said delightfully causing Sawyer's face to grow pale, "Oh but don't worry, your safe here with us!" she teased and Sawyer tried to force a smile.

"Now then, we'll help you get back to the portal.." Alan said and started to head for the exit; Sawyer nodded and jumped down from the table following the man but was stopped by Ellie. "Wait, I'll come too!" she said and went to the front of the RV, "Just wait!" she said and went to look for something. Alan sighed and Sawyer smiled sheepishly, the more they waited the more he felt uneasy about being in this dangerous world. "So Sawyer..where is your game exactly." Ellie asked as she dug through papers and other messy things to find what she was looking for, obviously not minding she was taking a while.

Sawyer gulped, unsure what to say, but ultimately decided to tell the truth. "I'm looking for a new home actually, a new game.." he stated and Ellie looked up from her searching, "Wait was your game unplugged?" she asked, shocked and almost a little emotional for Sawyer. Sawyer waved his hands dramatically, "No, no!" he laughed and then his smile dropped, "I um, am just looking.." he said and looked at the ground. Ellie gave a serious look to Alan who shrugged his shoulders and then crossed his arms; to Sawyer they looked as if they were talking telepathically so he couldn't hear what they were saying. A trait he wasn't sure if they actually possessed.

"But..don't you have any family Sawyer, wouldn't your Mother miss you?" Ellie asked and stood up, holding a small medical pouch with her, the thing she was looking for. "Ellie.." Alan warned and took a step forward only to be knocked completely over along with Sawyer and Ellie, something had hit the RV, hard. "Dammit.." Alan cursed and looked out the window as something large stomped by, "How did we not hear it coming?" he whispered and kept low to the ground, Ellie as well. Sawyer tried to look up but was immediately pulled down by both Ellie and Alan, "Stay low…don't move a muscle.." Alan warned and Sawyer immediately felt his muscles tense.

Before either of them knew it the RV rocked again, having been hit by the same creature, and a loud roar echoed throughout the game. Sawyer brought his hands up to his ears and flinched as it pierced deep inside them and made his body run cold, "W-what is that?" Sawyer whispered. Alan clenched his fists and looked Sawyer deep into his eyes, "A Tyrannosaurus.."


	12. Zombies Go Round

Rocky was jumping on the trampoline for nearly an hour now, his leg's growing weaker and his body becoming sore as each zombie stumbled by. The boy had stumbled into the game 'Zombies ate my Neighbors' and was immediately ambushed by zombies of every kind, all wanting to apparently munch on him. Rocky figured at the beginning of his journey he wouldn't have to worry about villains in a different game, but the zombies quickly made him regret that thought and chased him down with no weapons of protection or any idea of where he was going.

The boy only climbed onto the trampoline in hopes that he could somehow jump his way to another less crowded area of zombies. Rocky jumped a few times to get some height and to see a way out of the mess he was in when he realized the zombies couldn't reach him there on the trampoline. Instead of jumping to another area, he decided to stay put and find another option. But as he continued to jump, more zombies noticed the young boy and started to crowd around the trampoline. Then Rocky was out of ideas.

"I have to figure a way out…" Rocky thought and looked around at the other trampolines, one was rather close to Rocky and he knew he could reach it if he jumped hard enough. But after that he knew he would have to jump completely off and make a run for it again if he was going to get away from the zombies, otherwise he would just be jumping back and forth between the two trampolines and wasting his energy to run. "If only I had a weapon…" he said out loud and looked around for any other options, hoping to find at least some form of defense if anything.

The only other thing Rocky could see over the massive crowd of zombies was a trash can and a house that he had already tried to open but was locked, he could take the trash can lid and use it as some sort of shield or maybe chuck it at some zombies if he ran out of options but other than that Rocky would just have to run as fast as his legs could carry him. "Okay.." Rocky said and used his last bit of strength to prepare himself to make a mad dash to the trash can, figuring that was something instead of nothing.

"1…2….3!" Rocky cried and jumped off the trampoline and over the zombies, landing hard on the ground. At first the boy's leg's screamed in pain and he almost felt like he would pass out and allow the zombies to have his brain, but as he heard the zombies moan and groan behind him and felt their hands descend upon him he pushed himself to go further. He had to get away from them; he had to make it back to his friends, back to his family and even back to his own game someday. He pushed himself further, regardless of the pain, and made it to the trash can and picked up the lid. He was ready to battle the zombies, ready to defeat them in any means.

But as Rocky grabbed the lid of the trash can it disappeared in his hands, completely gone as if it had never been there. Rocky felt tears prick his eyes and he felt his stomach sink as the zombies came closer and closer, while he remained completely defenseless and out of options.

* * *

Crackle and Abelle looked back and forth at the interesting scene that lay before them, all while plugging their nose at the terrible smell of fish. They seemed to be in a shop of some kind, a restaurant; the girls were sitting in two red stools. One by one customer's would file in and take a seat next to the girls to eat the smelly food that was coming out in the boatloads before them, all on what seemed to be a conveyer belt . The girls couldn't see who was making the food, but they could see the ingredients and wondered what kind of fishy candy they were and what caused it to smell so terrible.

"Are we supposed to take one..?" Crackle wondered aloud to Abelle who merely sat there and shrugged her shoulders, but eyed the food very suspiciously. Crackle grimaced and took a plate anyways, not wanting to seem rude. Immediately as she did, the customer next to her grew very frustrated and left the building as if Crackle had done something so very terrible. Abelle gave the customer a cold look as he did and looked at the plate down in their hands, unsure what to think about it. Next to them several other customers were enjoying the food very quickly, shoving it into their mouths and leaving almost as quickly as they arrived only to be replaced by the next similar customer.

Abelle picked up the piece of food and twirled it in her hand; it was cold and white with black and other colored things on the inside. It didn't look like candy or smell like candy but she was curious if it tasted like candy, as well as Crackle. The girls looked at each other and then plopped the weird food in their mouth only to immediately spit it back out, "ugh.." Crackle said under her breath and Abelle respectfully wiped her mouth, trying not to cause a scene. The newest person who came in the place of the old person, who had been very upset with the girls or the cook, turned to them suddenly and eyed the girls over. "What, do you not like sushi?" she asked and scoffed at the girls, eating her own sushi.

"This is…sushi?" Crackle asked and looked it over, not understanding what the word 'sushi' meant. "Yes, sushi…raw fish…this is of course, Sushi Go Round..?" the lady said as if the girls were stupid, then left them to their thoughts as the next customer arrived at her spot. "Raw fish..?" Crackle wondered again and then stuck her tongue out, "Like raw Swedish fish?" she asked Abelle, the only kind of candy fish they knew of, to which the girl shrugged her shoulder's again.

The two decided they had, had enough of the sushi place and moved over to the side of the room to look for the exit. "Do you think little boy blue is still there though?" Crackle asked as Abelle searched high and low for the portal, "Who cares.." Abelle said under her breath and glared back at the girl meanly. Crackle sighed and followed the girl quietly, curious about her. Earlier that day the girl had opened up to her in such a way that Crackle figured she would be kind from now on, especially since Crackle had done such a kind deed for her and allowed her to come with them on their journey. She was hoping that somehow the girls could be friends or even best friends now, even being kind to each other would have been wonderful. But now, more than ever, she was being mean again. Thinking back the girl remembered exactly what Abelle had said and done that moment of that morning and wondered why she couldn't act like that all the time.

"Are you coming or not?" Abelle yelled and snapped Crackle out of her thoughts, the girl had been standing by the portal for some time looking annoyed. The portal had been hiding on the opposite end of the game, behind a door. A rather obvious place to have the portal and was the very reason why Abelle had found it so quickly while Crackle stared off in her own thoughts. Abelle sighed heavily and held the door open for the young girl, waiting for her to follow before she left the game completely. Sorry!" Crackle laughed and walked over with her to get in, "Goodbye stinky fish game!" she giggled and Abelle rolled her eyes before the two stepped in and left the game.

* * *

"Whoa Jamie did you get much sleep last night?" Gabe asked as Jamie walked into the break room and immediately sat down at the game 'Turbo Time' to play a round before his shift, he turned to Gabe and then back at the game "Not a wink actually.." he laughed and rubbed at his sore eyes. Gabe shook his head and said something else to Jamie, but he ignored him and started playing the game instead. Ever since the night Jamie turned on the game Turbo Time and read the words off the screen he had become addicted to the game, playing it every chance he got. The game was mysterious and had levels that were truthfully very creepy, all including the phantom 'Turbo' in it. One level he raced through a track made of pure fire that wrapped around a volcano of some sort, the cheesy images of corpses and other disturbing images decorated the sides of the volcano.

Another level, which was Jamie's favorite, was the racer graveyard track that showed up in several different levels. It had various broken karts that Jamie had to dodge Turbo through and he could have sworn the entire track looked like a haunted version of another game he had played once, causing him to wonder how the old man had done it. How had he made such an awesomely evil game in the months he had with this once normal game, how had he managed to change the graphics? The entire layout of the game from the track to even the character Turbo had been changed to be ghoulish and almost terrifying as he continued to play throughout the levels which just grew darker and darker as he continued.

Whenever Jamie lost the old man even had the fun of making Turbo say, "You're too weak." Instead of the typical 'Game Over', this in a mysterious way caused Jamie to want to play more and more. Regardless of Jamie's research on the game or his long talk's with his Fiancé of the matter, nobody could help him on how or what happened to the game Turbo Time and how the old man managed to do it.

"Jamie.." Gabe called and tapped the man on his shoulder; the move surprised Jamie and caused him to flinch while also ruining his game. "Aw I'm sorry man..it's just, we have a problem.." Gabe said as Jamie turned around, annoyed that his game had been messed up but even more concerned about what his coworker was about to tell him. "We're having troubles with a game…can you look at it?" Gabe asked and Jamie rolled his eyes, "Don't I train you guy's to be able to fix this?" he replied rudely but got up and followed Gabe out into arcade where his other coworker Abby was waiting.

"Abby and I both tried.." Gabe said and Abby added, "I tried as best I could but when I got Gabe and he couldn't fix it..I knew it was more your deal.". Jamie sighed and tried not be annoyed, especially since he was going to have to fix these problems often if he was going to be the new owner soon. He peaked down at the game and looked it over, a simple game that they had got a few months back called "Sushi Go Round.". The game was simple, makes the orders and send them out to the people, but for some reason it was sending out the same orders over and over again and some of the characters seemed to be glitching.

"What in the world…this game isn't that old?" Jamie said and hit the side of it, as if it was going to make it better. "Ah…leave it for now, I'll have Cara look at it tonight.." he said and leaned back, putting his hands on his hips. "Does anyone have anything else they can say about it before I have her take a look?" he questioned and looked back at his coworkers, Gabe shook his head and looked at Abby who said, "I just saw a kid playing it, she complained about it and I had a look…saying that something in the game was messing her up, but that's all I have.". Jamie shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Alright, back to work then..".


End file.
